Publisher's Synopsis
Hamburg State Prosecutor Chastity Riley becomes involved in the horrifying, chilling search for a violent serial killer targeting dancers from a club … the first book in an award-winning, wildly original, addictive series…
' Such a revelation' Laura Lippman
' Gruesome and assured, Buchholz' s work remains as persuasive as ever' Barry Forshaw, Financial Times
' Reading Buchholz is like walking on firecrackers … a truly unique voice in crime fiction' Graeme Macrae Burnet
' Unpredictable, shocking and funny … Simone Buchholz is my favourite German crime writer' Mark Sanderson, The Times
**WINNER of the CWA Crime in Translation Dagger**
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A serial killer is on the loose in Hamburg, targeting dancers from The Acapulco, a club in the city' s red-light district, taking their scalps as gruesome trophies and replacing them with plastic wigs.
Chastity Riley is the state prosecutor responsible for crimes in the district, and she' s working alongside the police as they investigate. Can she get inside the mind of the killer?
Her strength is thinking like a criminal; her weaknesses are pubs, bars and destructive relationships, but as Chastity searches for love and a flamboyant killer - battling her demons and the dark, foggy Hamburg weather - she hits dead end after dead end.
As panic sets in and the death toll rises, it becomes increasingly clear that it may already be too late. For everyone…
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' Caustic, incisive prose. A street-smart, gutsy heroine. A timely and staggeringly stylish thriller' Will Carver
' The coolest character in crime fiction … Darkly funny and written with a huge heart' Doug Johnstone, Big Issue
' Modern noir, with taut storytelling, a hard-bitten heroine, and underlying melancholy peppered with wry humour' New Zealand Listener
' Dark, atmospheric, and complex, with often surprisingly emotional … a classy piece of fiction from an author who never disappoints' Jen Med' s Book Reviews
Praise for the Chastity Riley series:
'Combines nail-biting tension with off-beat humor ... Elmore Leonard fans will be enthralled' Publishers Weekly
'Buchholz doles out delicious black humor ... interwoven in a manner that ramps up the intrigue and tension' Foreword Reviews
' Lyrical and pithy' Sunday Times
'Fierce enough to stab the heart' Spectator
'A real blast of adrenaline' Big Issue
'Simone Buchholz writes with real authority and a pungent, noir-ish sense of time and space' Financial Times
'A stylish, whip-smart thriller' Russel McLean
